New event series: Mercedes-Benz & Friends. Stars and high-flyers

The impressive countryside round about the Lake of Constance will be the scene of “Mercedes-Benz & Friends” from 23 to 26 September 2010. It kicks off a series of customer-focussed events of Mercedes-Benz Classic and is aimed at the members of the official Mercedes-Benz Clubs. Under this year’s motto, “Stars and high-flyers”, a tour through three countries bordering on Lake Constance is planned, including drives through the Alps over wonderful routes that will also take in peaks.

Participants from 14 nations are expected. They will be travelling in a total of 100 vehicles from many epochs – from the supercharged Mercedes of the 1920s to the Young Classics from more recent brand history. Former racing drivers and current brand ambassadors Roland Asch in a Mercedes-Benz 190 SL racing version (W 121 series), Mika Häkkinen in a Mercedes-Benz 280 SE 3.5 (W 111) and Dieter Glemser in a Mercedes-Benz 230 SL Rally Pagoda (W 113) will be present to give the tour a sporting flair.

The participants will arrive on Thursday, 23 September 2010. For their first evening together a stylish venue has been selected: Montfort Castle in Langenargen, directly situated on Lake Constance. The guests will be brought there by boat. After dinner the schedule for the weekend will be presented to them. The next day starts right off with a tour highlight: the Silvretta High Alpine Road.

Friday, the 24th of September 2010, begins with a drive to the Austrian Alps, to Lech am Arlberg. For the lunch break it’s up and away by cable car: to the 250-year-old Rud-Alpe at an altitude of 1560 metres. In the morning the Silvretta High Alpine Road, one of the most popular and most beautiful mountain roads in the Alps with magnificent views, is on the agenda. It goes a distance of 25.4 kilometres from Montafon valley in the Vorarlberg region via Bielerhöhe and the Silvretta to the Tyrolean Paznaun, the valley of the Trisanna. The group will have covered about 300 kilometres in all by its return to Lake Constance. The evening event will again take place at, or to be more precise, on, Lake Constance: the event ship MS Sonnenkönigin will provide the setting for a wonderful party, taking the guests out into the night.

For Saturday, the 25th of September 2010, the alternatives are a drive through the Appenzeller Land or a shopping trip to Zurich. Those who choose the drive through the mountain scenery of Switzerland will have the opportunity to visit cheese dairies along the 130-kilometre route. “Sönd willkomm auf Schwägalp und Säntis!” is then the call to lunch. Schwägalp, altitude 1352 metres, can be reached by car and affords a typical Appenzell ambience; if the weather is good, the sun terrace invites guests to take a seat in the midst of nature and opens up a great view of Mt Säntis, whose 2502 metre summit with its extraordinary panoramic view can be reached from there by cable car. The evening takes the guests to the Festival Theatre in Bregenz and a very special dinner programme very appropriate to the ambience. The Mercedes-Benz Classics will contribute their share to the evening, parking directly in front of the Festival Theatre on Vienna Symphony Orchestra Square.

This will also be the place for saying goodbyes on Sunday, 26 September 2010, before the participants leave Bregenz in all directions. They will be richer for the unique impressions they have gathered in a circle of “stars and high-flyers” that has a name: “Mercedes-Benz & Friends”.

“Mercedes-Benz & Friends” is also planned for 2011. The event will then be linked with the “125 Years of the Automobile” anniversary. The programme will be announced in good time.